Edwin fobes



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWINFOBES, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

VERTICAL PIANO. I

Specification of Letters Patent No. 9,724, dated May 17', 1853.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN Fons, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk andState of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement inthe Piccolo-Pianoforte; and I do hereby declare that the same is fullydescribed and represented in the following specification and theaccompanying drawings, letters, figures, and references thereof.

0f the said drawings Figure l represents a front elevation of the stringframe and sounding board of a piccolo piano forte constructed on myimproved plan or having my improvements applied to it. Fig. 2 is avertical, central, and transverse section of the same, such sectionbeing taken through one of the strings of a note. Fig. 3 is anothervertical and transverse section taken on the line rc, m, of Fig. l. Fig.4L is a back view of the said frame and sounding board.

It is well known that there are different kinds of piano fortes whichcome under the general appellations of horizontal and upright pianos,the distinction between them being well understood by piano fortemakers. Of the upright piano fortes there are two kinds, the piccolo andthe long or secretary upright. In the piccolo the longer stringsextend-below the general plane of the keys and nearly down to the Hoorupon which the instrument rests, whereas in the long upright the greaterportion of the strings are elevated entirely above the plane of the keysand extend in a direction upward.

My improvement is practically and usefully applicable to the piccoloalone, as were it applied to the long upright it would cause theposition of the straining pins of the strings to be such as to render itimpossible for a tuner to obtain access-to them while tuning the piano.Having thus premised I shall now proceed to point out the nature of myinvention.

In the drawings above mentioned it represents the metallic frame onwhich the two halves a, a, of each string or note are ex-v tended.

B is the sounding board, C, the bridge plate which carries the bridge o.

D, D, denote hitch pins, there being two of these represented in thedrawings, they being inserted in the hitch pin bar E of the metallicframe.

The strings proceed from the hitch pins -in the usual way, pass over thesounding board bridge G and to the bridge o and thence are carried intothe grooved periphery of two small rollers c, c, arranged at the upperpart of the cast iron frame as-seen in the drawings which rollersrot-ate freely on a rod or wire CZ that reposes in a rabbet n. Thencethe two ends of each string are respectively carried backward at rightangles to their formed direction and are connected to straining pins e,e, inserted vertically in the upper edge of a wooden bar f applied tothe rear of the upper part of the cast iron or metallic frame. The axisof each straining pin is thus made to stand vertically, whereas in thecommon piccolo piano fortes as hereto-fore made it has been made tostand horizontally. Every tuner knows that when the axis of a strainingpin is arranged horizontally the pin is placed in a very awkwardposition for him to handle his tuning key and produce the necessarystrain upon the key to set up the string. Now if the strings are carriedover a rm or immovable bridge or corner and bent at an angle over thesame, the strain required to bring them to the right tension and thefriction produced by their passage or movement over such bridge orcorner will almost invariably cause the string to break while being setup or shortly afterward when played on by the hammer of t-he action. Inorder to prevent the breakage of the string I employ a small movableguide roller as heretofore described, there being to each hitch pin orthe string secured to it, twov of these guide rollers and two strainingpins as shown in the drawings.

In the treble the sounding board B is eX- tended upward in rear of thebridge and bridge plate C and there is a space m made between saidsounding board and bridge plate, and thus for the higher notes a greatincrease of sounding board is obtained.

In the common piccolo piano forte the wooden bar in which the strainingpins are inserted is carried entirely underneath the bridge plate C andclose down to the lower edge of the bridge Z) so that the sounding boardhas no vibration in rear of the bridge plate and above the bridge o-fit. By making a space m between the bridge plate and the sounding board(the straining pin bar forming the upper boundary of such space) a muchgreater amount of sounding board can be applied to the higher notes whensuch sounding board is carried upward behind and above the bridge b asseen in theY drawings.

What I claim as my improvement in the piccolo piano forte isf 1. Thearrangement of the straining pins With their axes vertical or nearly `soand parallel or nearly so to the general plane ofthe strings and tostand above the iron frame as set forth, the string of each hitch` pinhaving guide rollers applied to it subi stantially as above set forth,my improve-f i nient enabling me to obtain sundry im- I portantadvantages in the construction and tuning of the piccolo piano forte.

` 2. And I alsoclaim the vimprovement of ext-ending the sounding boardupwarda'bove the bridge and in rear of the bridge plate in the trebleand so as to be capable of vibrating in rear of and above said bridgeplate all substantially as above set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereto set my signature this nineteenth dayof Octo- `bei, A. D. 1852.

EDWIN FOBES.

Witnesses:

R. H. EDDY, GEORGE M. CUTTER.

